


The Queen Family Pool Party (Or the Only Time Oliver Doesn’t Hate Being in the Pool)

by CJ_fics



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Pool Party, Queen siblings, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 12:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2850545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CJ_fics/pseuds/CJ_fics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thea-centric story. About how she and Oliver fix their relationship and learn to trust each other again. And a pool party!</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Queen Family Pool Party (Or the Only Time Oliver Doesn’t Hate Being in the Pool)

The Queen Mansion opened its doors again in the summer. Over a year had passed since the mansion had closed its doors and lost everything it in (save for a few hidden cameras in strategic places), and the Queen family lost its considerable fortune over a calculated move by Slade Wilson and Isabel Rochev. Fourteen months, to be exact, from that point in time.  
  
But it was behind them now.   
  
The Queen family, the ones that were left, regained their fortune and their home back. Granted, they have yet to fully recover the vast amounts of wealth that they took for granted as Oliver and Thea grew up, but they had fifty-two percent controlling shares of Queen Consolidated back, and the newly founded Q-Core Department has been working well to earn QC big contracts in the internet and communications field. Oliver had regained control over his family’s company, and the first thing he did as the newly-reinstated CEO was to propose Q-Core to the board and make it known that the department will not have another other head other than one Felicity Smoak. It was a proposal and a decision that has been reaping rewards for everyone at QC.   
  
Thea Queen, safely and willingly back in her brother’s protective, supportive and loving arms, had made it her life’s mission in the past five months to re-open the Queen Mansion and bring it back to its former glory. It was her way of recovering from the ordeal she experienced in her biological father’s clutches, and to make up for the tacit betrayal of the only family she’s ever known when she left Starling City with Malcolm Merlyn with a goal to not be Thea Queen anymore. Through the steps she took to re-acquire her family’s belongings and to refurbish the once-abandoned mansion, Thea paid proper homage to her parents, who both died to protect her, her brother and their city. In getting back the art work that Robert Queen that had so loved, Thea acknowledged that, while Malcolm Merlyn had sired her, Robert Queen was her real father. Robert Queen was the one who gently kissed her skinned knees, taught her how to ride a bike and horses, comforted her with ice cream when a boy she liked in school was rude to her, and spoiled in the way only a real father would do for his daughter. In recovering their family’s furniture, especially the Victorian dining room set that Moira Queen had inherited from her own mother, Thea forgave her mother for the secrets she kept from her family, mourned the self-sacrificing death that Moira faced head-on in protection of her children, and acknowledged that having Moira as a mother made her stronger as woman herself. And that she would not have it any other way. As Thea loved their mansion, their home, back to life, she accepted the love that her parents and her brother, as fallible as they were, had always given to her, and acknowledged that she, equally fallible, loved them back.  
  
In every step of the way, Oliver, the only family she had left, was there for her. Guiding her. Supporting her. Reminiscing with her about what went on in their home, the good and the bad. Comforting her when she faltered with guilt over the months when she chose Malcolm Merlyn over the family that had loved her all of her life. Carrying heavy furniture as she directed him, John Diggle and Roy to place couches, tables, chairs around different rooms in the mansion. Multiple times.   
  
By the time the mansion was ready for occupancy again, Thea’s relationship with her brother was better than ever. No more secrets and lies. He told her about his secret identity and his crusade for the city, about his time away from Starling City, and the circumstances of their father’s death. In turn, she told him about the five years of purgatory she suffered when he was ‘dead’, the months she spent with Malcolm Merlyn, and most of the things that went on in her head and her heart. More than that, Oliver had been a lot more open and expressive with Thea about what was going through his head, his hopes and his dreams, what he wanted for the future, his feelings for Felicity Smoak.  
  
So, Thea made a mental list. One, get the mansion, our home, back in order. Two, make Oliver happy by getting him together with Felicity. And three, live happily ever after.  
  
It was a lofty list, she knew. But anyone who has ever met Thea Queen knew that, if there was one person who could do it, it was her. She was stubborn and determined enough to achieve her goals.  
  
With the mansion ready, refurbished and replenished, Thea worked on the second item on her list.   
  
—————————————————————————-  
  
"A pool party?" Oliver asked with an eyebrow raised.   
  
Thea had shown up at QC, bearing take-out boxes from Table Salt for lunch and a printed invitation for Saturday’s party at the Queen Mansion.  
  
"Yep!" Thea answers with a cheeky grin as she set the boxes on his coffee table.  
  
"Ugh. You know, I hate swimming, Thea," Oliver whines, helping Thea out with the food.   
  
"I know, Ollie! But it’s summer! And the pool is gorgeous! And, we’re Queens! We party, that’s what we do," Thea insists. _Also, maybe if you see Felicity in a bikini, you’ll make a move already_ , she adds internally.  
  
"Well, that is true. You, Queens know how to throw a party, that’s for sure," Felicity says from the doorway to Oliver’s office. She makes her way closer to them, "Although, I remember that one dud of a party that Oliver organised … But I’m sure, if you’re organising it, Thea, it will be a hit."  
  
"Hey!" Oliver complains, standing up to meet Felicity halfway, "It was one time. One time. How was I to know that hardly anyone would show up for mom’s ‘Welcome Home from Prison Party’? I thought, free food, free booze — and everyone would show up. At the very least to gawk at us."  
  
Felicity shakes her head and rolls her eyes at Oliver.   
  
Thea tries to keep the stunned expression on her face from showing. Yes, she and Oliver had grown much closer, and her brother had been more open with her, for sure. But he was never, not after his five years away, the type to joke around, especially on a topic like their mother and her incarceration for her involvement in the Undertaking.   
  
Thea shakes her head at what she internally called the Felicity Effect. She had witnessed it at work on her brother enough times, that she’s surprised it can still amaze her.  
  
Thea had become closer to Felicity after her return from her time with Malcolm Merlyn. She had known Felicity for a while now, the older woman being somewhat of a permanent fixture in Oliver’s life as his then Executive Assistant. But beyond polite greetings and small talk, they never had conversations. Until Thea came back. In fact, it was Felicity who found Thea first, and the one who tried to convince with Thea to come back to her family and to Roy first. Despite Thea’s rudeness towards her at that time, Felicity still sought to plead Oliver’s and Roy’s cases to her, never wavering in her belief that Thea was ultimately a good person. After Thea accepted that about herself, she sought Felicity out to apologise for her behaviour and to try to get to know the woman was so important to the two men who were the most important to Thea. They had been building a friendship since.  
  
Without a doubt, the idea of her brother and Felicity together had Thea’s one hundred percent support.   
  
"I invited Felicity for lunch, Thea," Oliver announces, "Knowing you, you ordered enough to feed at least six people. And Felicity eats like a trucker."  
  
"Hey!" Felicity playfully hits Oliver’s arm, "You know, it’s not polite to refer to a lady’s eating habits, Mr. Queen."  
  
Oliver flashes a teasing smile at Felicity and chuckles in response.  
  
Thea tries not to gape. It never got old, no matter how many times she has seen her brother behave towards Felicity. Her brother teasing and flirting in a wholesome way was something she was still getting used to.  
  
"So, pool party!" Thea announces as she takes a serving spoon to get some salmon carpaccio, "You in, Felicity?"  
  
———————————————————————————  
  
Saturday dawned bright and sunny. Exactly how Thea wished it would be.   
  
The list of invitees to the party was pretty short: Felicity, Roy, John, Lyla, Little Angela, Laurel, Quentin, Sara (she was in town for the next two weeks), Nyssa, Sin. Of course, Oliver, Raisa and her.  
  
Thea gets out of her bed as soon as she her a knocking on her door. Raisa.  
  
"Good morning," Thea greets as she steps out of her room, smiling at Raisa. She was so glad that Raisa agreed to manage their home once again. The older woman was such a comforting presence, and the Queen Mansion would never be home without her.  
  
"Good morning, Ms. Thea," Raisa greets back, "Are you ready for the day’s festivities?"  
  
"Yes!" Thea says enthusiastically, "Is Oliver around?"  
  
"He went for a run this morning. He’s waiting on you to have breakfast in the kitchen," Raisa answers, "Come on, child, the day won’t happen without you organising it!"  
  
After breakfast, Thea goes about making sure that the pool party was ready with Raisa and the rest of the staff’s help. This was the first time in over fourteen months that their home would receive guests and be the site for festivities, and Thea couldn’t wait.  
  
After working with Thea, moving pool umbrellas and lounge chairs around the pool at his sister’s strict instructions to make everything ‘just so’, Oliver announces, “Hey, I’m going to get ready and then pick Felicity up. We’ll be here in time for everyone. Everything’s set, right?”  
  
Thea shoos him away to go do his thing, busy with making sure that the canape’s and the drinks were ready, “Just be here by one, Ollie!”.  
  
—————————————————————————————————  
  
"I can’t believe you got Ollie to agree to a pool party, Thea. He hates swimming," Laurel grins at Thea. They’re sitting on one end of the pool with Sara, Nyssa and Roy, relaxing under the warm rays of the summer sun.  
  
"Oh, I think he loves his sister more than he hates swimming," Roy chimes in, handing Thea a Singapore Sling.  
  
The two of them  were well on their way to re-establishing their relationship. They had both agreed to take things slowly, develop a real friendship and mutual trust before giving in to the attraction they felt for one another. But Thea knew that as far as she was concerned, Roy Harper was the only one for her. His actions and words over the last few months, told her that he felt the same way about her.   
  
"That is true," Thea confirms, smiling, "My brother does love me. I remember that time when we were kids and I only wanted to learn how to swim from him, and he went to the pool every day to teach me."  
  
"He did?" Laurel asks, "I didn’t know that."  
  
"Wow," Sara murmurs, clearly not knowing that tidbit as well.  
  
"Yeah, he did. He was whining the entire time though. But it didn’t stop him from teaching me how to swim," Thea answers, looking at Oliver, who was sitting on one of the lounge chairs, having a conversation with John and Lyla, who had Little Angela in her arms. He kept glancing at Felicity, who was sitting on the opposite side of the pool, talking with Raisa, Sin and Quentin Lance.  
  
To Thea’s disappointment, the scenario she had wished for had yet to happen. Oliver had yet to see Felicity in a bikini, and be so caught up in his attraction towards her that he would let go of whatever it was that was keeping him from planting a kiss on Felicity which would result in a major make-out session. Felicity had opted to wear a cover-up for her swimsuit. Thea wasn’t sure if Felicity even had a bikini underneath!   
  
Thea suspects that she’s a tad too involved with her brother’s love life, and that she would probably need therapy if she sees her brother in a full adult make-out session with anyone, but she really, really, really just wants her brother to be happy. He’s sacrificed so much, he’s gone through so much trauma, Thea believes that he deserves happiness. And she knows that Felicity would be the one to make Oliver happy. Felicity already makes her brother very happy. But Thea believes that he could be _happier_. And he _should_ be happier.  
  
But, so far, while this party seems to be a smash, Thea’s other plans for it is turning out to be dud.   
  
She sighs.  
  
"What’s wrong, Thea?" Roy whispers, "Everything all right?"  
  
"Oliver and Felicity," she mumbles.  
  
Roy snorts and places his hand on the top of her head to mess with her hair, “In their own time, babe.”  
  
Before she could respond, Quentin’s loud voice interrupts them, “What? What do you mean you don’t know how to swim?”  
  
"I know how to swim, Captain," Felicity says in a clear voice, "I said, I was never really good at it! I grew up in Vegas, which is in the middle of the Nevada desert. Where, in my childhood, would I have learned how to swim like a fish? I mean, I can swim! I took lessons in Cambridge — which, by the way, the first ever natural body of water I’ve seen was the Charles River when I went to Cambridge for MIT … Where was I? I can swim. If I need to. Like in an accident or something. Or, if someone pushed me into the pool, which some frat guy did in my sophomore year at uni. It was horrible! He didn’t even jump in to help me! So I hacked into the MIT servers and made him fail all his classes for a month. Hahaha. He learned his lesson after that— What are you looking at?"  
  
Felicity stops her rambling rant to glare at the small crowd that had gathered around her and Quentin. Diggle and Lyla were holding to each other’s arms as they laughed themselves silly, Angela clapping her hand in glee at her parents’ mirth. Roy was no better, he was bent over in laughter. As were Quentin and Sin. Thea was smiling gleefully, giggles coming out of her mouth.

Oliver had the biggest grin on his face.  
  
Seeing the look on Oliver’s face, Felicity jumps and holds her hands out, “Oliver! NO!”  
  
"What?" Oliver asks innocently, approaching her as a lion would a gazelle.  
  
"I know what you’re thinking, Oliver Queen," Felicity warns, backing away from Oliver and the pool, "NO!"  
  
"I’m not thinking anything, Fe-li-ci-ty," Oliver sing-songs, still walking towards her, slowly.  
  
"Oliver, NO!" Felicity shouts as she turns away to sprint towards the house.  
  
In less than three seconds, Oliver has her, carrying her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, much to everyone’s glee.  
  
"Oliver Queen, stop this!" Felicity shouts, hitting his butt with her fists in protest. Everyone could hear the laughter in her voice.  
  
"Stop what?" Oliver questions, slowly making their way to the pool.   
  
"If you throw me in the pool, Oliver Queen, I will — I will — I will—"  
  
"Hack into my university server and make me fail? Newsflash, I’ve already been kicked out of four universities. There’s not much damage you can do there," Oliver laughs.  
  
"No, I will find the most embarrassing baby pictures you have and post them on the internet!" she finally decides, "Yes, that’s what I will do, if you throw me into the pool!"  
  
"I will help you, Ms. Felicity," Raisa calls out.  
  
"Thank you, Raisa," Felicity, as polite as ever even when being carried like a dead body, says. Then she remembers what’s going on, "Oliver! I’m warning you …"  
  
In a deft and impressive move, Oliver moves Felicity from her Fireman’s Carry position to holding her under her knees and with an arm around her back, facing him. Without her feet touching the ground. He’s standing six inches away from the pool’s edge.  
  
"Oliver…" she pleads, trying a new tactic, clutching his shoulders and looking at him with wide eyes, "Please, don’t throw me in the pool."  
  
"I won’t. I’m going to jump in with you," he announces.  
  
"But you hate swimming!" Felicity screams.  
  
"Not with you," Oliver says before sprinting for the pool and cannon-balling in it with her held tight his arms.  
  
Felicity giggle screams on the way in. Oliver’s laughter rings out.   
  
When they re-surface in the middle of the pool, they’re still laughing, she’s still in his arms and she’s hitting his shoulders with her hands, water flying all around them, “I’m from Vegas, Oliver! Vegas! That’s in the middle of the desert. I DO NOT GET THROWN IN POOLS! I will exact my revenge. Swiftly and with precision, Oliver Queen. SWIFTLY AND WITH PRECISION!”  
  
Oliver does nothing to stop her assault. He just keeps chortling loudly.   
  
It’s the most beautiful sound Thea has ever heard. She never knew her brother could be this happy.  
  
Eventually, Felicity runs out of steam and quiets down. Oliver is still chuckling but doesn’t let go of Felicity, who burrows her face on his shoulder. As everyone else, except Thea, turns away to recover from laughing so hard, she sees Oliver put his face closer to Felicity’s for a kiss.   
  
_Huh_ , Thea thinks to herself, _maybe a bikini wasn’t required._

**Author's Note:**

> The fic prompt for this one was way simpler than the story. Basically, to have Oliver and Felicity near a pool, and have Oliver throw her in. 
> 
> Apparently, I can't write simple stories.
> 
> Original post here: http://outoftheclosetshipper.tumblr.com/post/96442164983/prompt-felicity-and-oliver-by-the-pool-and-oliver


End file.
